Almaty Bid a "Perfect Fit" with Agenda 2020 Reforms

(ATR) The Kazakhstan bid promises the "most efficient Games plan in 30 years" as it delivers its bid dossier to the IOC.

A bid delegation led by vice mayor of Almaty Zauresh Amanzholova and Kazakhstan NOC secretary general Timur Dossymbetov delivered the candidature file to IOC headquarters in Lausanne on Tuesday.

Almaty 2022 board member Andrey Kryukov, Ilya Urazakov, director general of the state foundation for organizing international sports events, and bid relations chief Oksana Rizanenko were also part of the bid team which travelled to Lausanne.

Beijing 2022 officials submitted their bid dossier to the IOC earlier in the day.

The two Asian cities are the only bidders for the 2022 Winter Games.

"Almaty 2022’s vision promises Winter Games focused on delivering the most ‘easy to use’ and efficient Games plan in 30 years – all venues are within a 30 km radius of the Olympic Village," a statement from the bid said.

"Almaty 2022 promises a return to a responsible, sensible Games model by adapting the 2022 Winter Games to fit the city and its long-term needs, not by altering the city with unnecessary infrastructure to fit the Games."

The Kazakh bid issued its most detailed press release to date Tuesday – a 1,700-word explanation of its vision and concept, underscoring how it has been guided by the IOC’s recommendations to revamp the Olympic Movement.

"The recent reforms passed by the IOC in Olympic Agenda 2020 talk about more affordable Games and Games that leave a lasting legacy we strongly support," the release said.

"Many recommendations of Agenda 2020 were taken into consideration while developing the concept of 2022 Winter Games. We believe our bid is a perfect fit with this new philosophy and brings essential benefits to the Almaty and Kazakhstani people."

Almaty 2022 said that by incorporating the new Agenda 2020 initiatives, a Kazakhstan Winter Games would enhance the physical, societal and economic wellbeing of the country’s citizens in the future, "not burden them with unwanted debt and unwarranted facilities."

The bid concept is based on "a return to practicality with minimal use of new venues and unnecessary infrastructure."

Almaty mayor Akhmetzhan Yesimov said the 2022 candidature file was a chance for the world to experience what we have always known, "Almaty is a modern, beautiful city graced with real, pristine mountains and real, ideal winter weather - it is a city perfectly suited to host an intimate, accessible Winter Games with lots of natural snow."

Dossymbetov said the Almaty 2022 vision was "a win-win Games for everyone because our plan is affordable, easy to use and ‘plug and play’ with our existing sports facilities."

The Kazakh Olympic plan includes 14 competition venues – eight are existing, three are under construction for the 2017 Winter Universiade and three would need to be built for the 2022 Games.

IOC inspectors are scheduled to visit Almaty Feb. 14 to 18 for a review of Almaty’s bid concept. They will evaluate Beijing 2022’s bid March 24 to 28.

The evaluation commission report will surface in June before the candidate cities briefing for the IOC membership in Lausanne.

The IOC chooses the 2022 host city at its Session in Kuala Lumpur on July 31.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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